See You
by lashsyn
Summary: (LxLight) Daikoku Private Academy - Where Light attends High School and also where a new, strange foreign student has enrolled. Light doesn't think much of Lawliet at first, but they find themselves on the same debating team and also trying to solve a mystery that's baffling the local Tokyo police. Classmates turn into acquaintances. Then friends. Then... something else. (editing)
1. CHAPTER ONE

**ONE**

"There's something... weird about him." One of Light's classmates murmured. "Look at the way he sits on the chair."

Light stole a subtle look himself. It definitely was a little unusual. Their new classmate was sitting on it in a crouch, feet up on the chair while his socks and shoes remained on the floor. Light guessed the only reason the teacher hadn't said anything about it yet, had been because their new classmate was a foreigner.

"See?" Ayato, the gossiping classmate repeated. " _So weird_."

Light tried to block out their discussion and focus back on his work. Sure, sitting strangely in a chair was a little unusual, and his appearance was... un-kept. But the new guy was probably just like everybody else. Another who talked of dull banter, with a blunt mind. No, if anything, the guy was probably a hopeless loser. It looked like he could hardly be bothered even putting in any effort -

"In the last test," the teacher from the front suddenly announced, jerking Light to attention, "Yagami-kun and Lawliet-kun both tied first. Akagi-san, you placed second. And Kaiyo-kun, third."

Light blinked, surprised. What had the teacher said just now...?

"The rest of you did very well. But it means that those mentioned will be offered to represent the school in a debate."

Him and... the new guy had just tied first?

"We'll have a meeting during tomorrow's lunch. Make sure that you're there."

But his grades were usually... if not, almost perfect...

The paper landed in front of Light as the teacher passed them around.

99.5%.

He'd lost half a mark on a missing comma.

Wait no, he thought to himself. Of course the other guy could have tied with him. It had been an English test and the new guy was British. It would have been easy for him.

He glanced over.

The new classmate was holding the paper up between thumb and forefinger, frowning.

He opened his mouth, like he was about to say something, then closed it. Frowning further.

What was he... about to say?

"Yagami-kun," the teacher said, once again snapping him back. "Could you please read out the first correct translation?"

Light stood from his desk, not helping to notice that still he was the one to tell the class the correct answer.

"Follow the teachings of God," he read. "Then the blessings of the sea will become bountiful... And there will be no storms."

Light sat back down afterwards, glancing again. He hadn't even looked at him.

"Akagi-san," the teacher continued, skipping the new student, "Next?"

She read the answer out, and several other students were asked at random around the room. Then he got to -

"Lawliet-kun?"

He was one of the last.

Lawliet looked at him like he was confused.

Or... Light thought, more accurately, making a point. Fake confused.

"Sorry?"

"The next answer." The teacher clarified and Lawliet blinked.

"I lost track of where we were up to."

Light smirked a little.

"Number seventeen."

"Oh... I suppose that makes sense."

He stood up, un-necessarily, and held the paper out in front of him in the same peculiar way he had earlier.

"Actually... I can't read my writing. I did this at 3am in the morning."

The teacher sighed.

"Do try to write neater next time."

Lawliet sat back down.

Just as Light thought. He was probably just a cocky loser.

* * *

The bell sounded loudly at the end of class. As usual, Light was often one of the last few to leave - the others rushed out, glad to be out of the stuffy classroom and chat with their friends. To Light, it was the same dull routine, and there was no one in particular he looked forward to talking to. Especially when most of the times conversations were about weekend plans, TV shows, and school gossip.

Light packed his books into his bags slowly, noticing the imperfect test score once again as he put it into his bag.

 _Debate, huh? They haven't even given us a topic yet, or told us who we'd be competing against... And isn't it sort of unfair, to include a native English speaker on the team?_

 _Well, the guys Japanese is probably bad. That's going to make it hard to work together.  
_

"Yagami-kun."

"Huh?"

Light looked up, and found himself staring almost face to face with the person he'd just been thinking about.

"Um... Sorry," Light apologized, "I was just spaced out. Did you ask me something?"

"No..." Lawliet replied. "I just thought that I should introduce myself, seeing as we're going to be working as a team."

"Oh..."

 _Actually, so far his Japanese is flawless - even his accent. He's never talked that much in class. Although we haven't had much of a conversation yet..._

"Well, nice to meet you." Light said, putting his bag over his shoulder.

"Yes. It's nice to meet you too."

"...Would you like to eat lunch together?"

Lawliet glanced away.

"I suppose that would be nice... I've just been eating by myself."

 _So that's how it is...? It's not that surprising that he's been ignored. Just look at him._

"We could sit outside? It's pretty noisy in the cafeteria so we may not even be able to hear each other talk. To be honest, I prefer to eat by myself too."

Light paused, and hesitated before he continued.

"Uh... Sorry but - "

"Hm?"

"I don't know if this is a Japanese thing, but I'm not used to people standing so close like that."

"Oh. Sorry, Yagami-kun."

Light gave a friendly smile, shaking his head.

"No, don't worry about it."

* * *

"You're from England, right?" Light asked, as they walked down the hall.

"Yes. Winchester."

"That's in the South...? South of Oxford?"

"Yes."

"That's a long way from here... If you don't mind me asking, how come you're in Japan?"

Lawliet seemed to stoop over a little more. "Well that's... sort of complicated. But more or less, family reasons. If you could call them that..."

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to pry."

"No, it's fine."

Light glanced at him.

"So where are you living now?"

"About fifteen minutes walk from here. Near the Imperial Hotel."

Light raised an eyebrow. That was an expensive area.

"Did you have much Japanese language education before you moved here? Or have you been here before? Your accent is flawless, you know."

Lawliet blinked, and face blanked, like the compliment was completely unexpected.

"I practiced a few months before I came here. Although to be honest, no one's really spoken much to me so I didn't know if it was any good."

"No - You sound like a native."

 _What am I doing..._ Light thought. _Encouraging him?  
_

"I guess people might just be intimidated, because they'll think that they have to use English when they're speaking to you. Maybe if you start talking to more people like this, they'll realize you can understand them fine."

"...Thank you, Yagami-kun."

Light smiled.

"No worries."

They fell quiet as they walked. Something about talking to this guy, Light felt, was different to talking to most people. Often _they'd_ be the ones intimidated by Light, and although he was considered "popular", it was rare that someone actually came up and talked to him wanting serious conversation.

 _Not that we've been... talking about anything serious. All this is, is an introduction..._

"Um..." Light began, "By the way, it's probably best to show up to school in uniform too. A lot of people are staring."

Lawliet stopped, glanced around, like he only just noticed.

"Is that why...?"

"You've got a uniform, right?"

He shook his head.

"Then maybe this afternoon you should go to the uniform office. It's inside the main school office building."

Lawliet's gaze fell back on Light.

It seemed like he'd already developed a habit of staring at him. And standing a little too closely.

"Thank you, Yagami-kun."

"Ah, really. You don't need to keep saying thank you."

"Oh."

"Anyway, I'm sure you would have had friends back home right? Who would have helped you the same?"

"Friends?"

"Ah, I didn't mean that we're - "

Lawliet kept staring at him.

"Just that - It's the polite thing to do."

 _This is strange... I feel like this guy's scrutinizing me._

"I would consider myself very lucky to have a friend like you,"

 _...Huh...?_

"You seem like a very nice person."

 _Is he... being sincere, or mocking me...?_

Light hesitated, then made an amused sound.

"It seems like you've already created an idea about the person that I am. _"  
_

Lawliet shrugged.

"I've just spent most of my time here so far observing. I hadn't been completely incorrect... I thought there was roughly an eighty-six percent chance that if I introduced myself to you, you would talk to me. It would have been rude not to. Right?"

"What do you mean... You think I just care about what other people think of me?"

"No. I think you don't really care about what other people do."

"Then, I don't understand."

"Mm..."

He started walking again.

"I didn't mean to offend you... I apologize."

Light was silent. He didn't know whether he should accept the apology.

"Well..." he muttered. "It's not a big deal."

 _In any case... he's probably right..._

"Yagami-kun?"

"Eh?"

"Do they have cake at the cafeteria?"

"Usually... Yeah."

"Then do you mind if we go there first?"

Light shrugged.

"Sure."

 _This guy definitely... Isn't afraid to speak his mind at all._

But maybe he had been a little wrong... about him being a loser.

* * *

 **-Author's Notes-**

 **Hey. Hope you liked the first chapter. I've always wanted to write an LxLight high school AU, and many ideas came to me from this first chapter. If you'd like to see where this is going, please feel welcome to review or follow. Also, Lawliet won't be continued to be referred to as "Lawliet" - that's just how Light knows him now. It will change to "Lawliet" in the next chapter, if using his last name has been a bit strange! I will aim to make the next chapter longer too. Thank you for reading (: xx**

 **B.**


	2. CHAPTER TWO

**TWO**

"I see..." Soichiro murmured over the phone, covering his mouth and speaker with his hand so that his voice didn't carry. "And what about the other two?"

He listened to the reply carefully and gave a deep frown. The information he was receiving certainly wasn't good.

"Well then... It can't be helped. I give you permission to carry it out, however make sure to be very careful. Alerting anyone at this point could compromise everything."

He waited for the response and mumbled in goodbye. Then ended the call.

"Uh... Chief?"

Soichiro started and turned around. He hadn't realized that Matsuda had been standing there. He thought he had been careful.

"Matsuda - What is it?"

"Sorry to bother you," the young officer said, bowing his head slightly and smiling sheepishly. "I just got a call from forensics. Seems like you were right. The DNA matched our main suspect."

"You seem hesitant?"

"Well, I - I mean, I still think it's a bit of a coincidence."

Soichiro considered him for a long while.

"We'll go with what we've got."

Matsuda licked his lips, and nodded, before walking away.

"And Matsuda?"

"Yes Chief?"

"How much of that conversation did you hear just now?"

"Oh, um, I didn't. I mean, you just hung up? Why was it," Matsuda turned his voice to a whisper, "something classified I wasn't supposed to hear?"

"No..." Soichiro said, shaking his head. "Forget it. I'll send out another email to have a meeting in an hour."

"Yes Chief!"

"... Also tell Aizawa that he'll probably have to stay back late again today. I doubt any of us will be getting home on time again this evening."

"Right!"

* * *

'~'~'

They were both sitting under the shade of a tree. There was a small retaining wall that encircled it where there were only another couple of people sitting on the other side. It was away from the main eating area, and quiet. Light watched as the guy next to him picked off some fruit and icing from the cake he'd bought from the cafeteria. He knew that people in the UK were said to love baked sweets, but he'd never heard about cake being eaten for lunch before. And certainly not in the manner that it was being eaten. It was more like a dissection, than anything.

His new classmate lowered a strawberry into his mouth, then scraped some icing off the top of the cake with his fingers, sucking on each of them slowly. Light swallowed. This guy sure was weird.

Lawliet caught him looking and grinned.

"Would you like some?"

"Uh. No thanks." Light declined the offer that was being held out to him, raising a hand and shaking his head. "I don't really eat sweets."

 _Not to mention... you've had your fingers in it._

Lawliet looked at him as if Light may as well have said that he liked to kill people in his spare time. Complete incomprehension mixed with horror.

"...Why?"

Light shrugged.

"Just never been fond of the taste? I guess I grew up eating a lot more savory food."

The guy next to him contemplated this while sucking on his thumb. Then he took it from his mouth, suddenly saying.

"Yagami-kun?"

"Mm?" Light asked, mouth busy chewing his own lunch.

"I've never seen sakura before. This is a sakura tree, isn't it?"

Light stopped chewing then glanced at him nodding.

"Mm."

"I haven't seen any others around yet."

Light swallowed.

"Actually, neither have I. This must be one of the first to bloom."

Lawliet twisted his back, staring up at the tree. He was still sitting in a crouch, perched on top of the short wall.

He stayed like that for a long moment and they both sat in comfortable silence until Light asked, "Were you in any clubs at your old school?"

"Mn, we didn't have clubs." He replied. "Although I used to play tennis and chess."

"Ah, really? I played tennis too."

"Maybe we should have a match sometime?"

Light hesitated, then nodded.

"Although, I warn you," Lawliet continued, "I used to be British junior champion. And I wont go easy on you."

Light smirked. "Fine by me. I'm not so bad myself."

"Most people would be a lot more modest..."

"Well... Says you." Light said, still smirking.

"I suppose that's true."

"So, have you ever been in a debate before?"

"You could call them that."

Light's brow furrowed. He wasn't sure what to make of the answer.

"Well... I hope we get to choose our own side at least," he said, stretching his legs. "I don't want to have to speak in support of something I'm against."

This caught Lawliet's attention.

"You're right. I wouldn't want to do that either."

 _..._

"Uh... Lawliet-san...?"

Lawliet shifted in reply.

"Just call me L."

"...Huh?"

"My first name - it's L."

"Oh... L-san - "

"Just L is fine."

Light bit his lip in frustration.

"...L... How long are you staying in Japan for? Is it just until you finish this year? It seems a bit random... coming the last term before most people go to college."

"I'm not sure." L admitted, "I thought that I might attend college here. But... I'm also already feeling homesick."

"I see..."

"Are you going to college, Yagami-kun? If I do stay here, I was thinking of getting into police enforcement and applying to To-oh."

Light's back straightened and he stared at L in surprise.

"Mm?" L asked, "Is To-oh not a good university despite it's reputation or something?"

"No! That's exactly what I was going to do."

They stared at each other for a moment.

"I mean - that's a weird coincidence."

L nodded.

 _Did he know I was doing that or something...?_

"My father's a police chief, I always wanted to follow him." Light explained, "It's the sort of job that takes its toll but... he really helps a lot people. I admire him for that. Why... did you want to join?"

The bell sounded indicating the end of the short lunch break before L replied, "I lost someone close to me when I was younger. I'd like to make sure that less things like that happen."

"Oh..." Light bowed his head.

 _It sounds like something tragic happened then. This is the reason... why I want to help put the people who are rotten into prison. No one deserves this._

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." L shrugged, getting off the wall and standing up. Straightening himself to a height that was surprisingly tall compared to when he normally hunched. "There's nothing for you to be sorry about, Yagami-kun... Anyway, we're going to be late for class."

"...Yeah..." Light agreed, also getting up. They walked in silence until Light thought he ought to break it. Bringing up something like that and then leaving L in his thoughts probably wasn't a great feeling for him.

"Hey... In class, I noticed that you were about to say something. When we got our results back."

"Oh."

L took out the test he had shoved into his back jean pocket.

"I got half a mark taken off, but actually, the teacher had marked it incorrectly. There wasn't a comma needed where he said there was."

 _The exact same mistake._

Light stared at the paper.

"I thought... that was wrong too."

"It depends on what the meaning is," L agreed. "The sentence is different with or without one. Seeing as it's impossible to know what the intended meaning was, it could be read either way. It was just a poor question, with no right or wrong answer. I considered saying this, but thought it wouldn't be good to embarrass the teacher in front of the class. Also, I'm just the weird foreigner. People already seem to have bad impressions about me."

Light bit his lip again. He didn't want to admit that he'd thought of L at the beginning of class the same. Maybe he'd even already guessed it...

They were interrupted by a group of girls walking past them both and giggling.

 _Probably because I'm hanging out with him_ , Light thought.

Well, like L had said earlier, it wasn't like he cared much anyway.

"Thank you for having lunch with me." L said.

"No worries..."

 _It was actually..._

"I'll see you in the class after."

Light nodded.

"Yeah."

* * *

The next class went slowly. It was mathematics, and they both had different teachers. Although Light was surprised in afterthought, that L had actually paid attention to the fact that they were both in separate classes for maths. It was obvious to Light, because L stood out. But Light was just another student among twenty-six. Did L just notice those sorts of things?

He turned when he felt a light tap on his shoulder, and saw Miho, his classmate, there. She was holding out a paper which he reluctantly took and unfolded while the teacher had their back to them.

 _'Were you and Lawliet-kun together at lunch?'_

Light felt like crushing the piece of paper up in his hands as he rolled his eyes.

So, the gossip had already begun.

 _'Yes. Why?'_

He wrote back.

 _'What sort of person is he?'_

Light hesitated.

What sort of person was he... exactly?

 _'He's nice.'_

 _'Maya-chan asked if I could ask you to get his email address for her.'_

Light let out a breath in frustration. Then wrote, _  
_

 _'I don't have his email address. Maybe she should ask.'_

 _'...okay.'_

Light focused back to the board.

Even despite his weirdness, L was attracting girls?

Well... he supposed girls probably just didn't know how to approach him.

Another tap.

 _'Aiko asked too.'_

Light let out a more impatient sigh.

 _'Sorry Kumi, I'm trying to concentrate. Let's talk about this later...maybe after school.'_

 _Hopefully that small suggestion is enough._

It was. She didn't write a note back, and Light was relieved.

He twirled his pen around in his hand out of boredom.

Relieved not because he needed to concentrate, but he hated being caught up in those sorts of things. Usually, if he talked to a girl it was just to pretend he was interested in them.

Another tap.

Although this time it wasn't Miho. It was Aiko.

Light tried not to glare in her direction, and masked his face with a look of vague questioning instead.

Another note.

He wasn't really happy with his new role in this situation.

* * *

"Some girls in maths class asked me for your email before."

L glanced up at him.

"I don't have an email."

"Huh?"

"I usually just use my phone."

"Maybe... you could give them your phone number then..."

"But I don't know them."

"Yeah... I know. Just thought I'd pass it on that there are a few who seem to like you, anyway."

"Oh... Thank you."

L had taken a seat behind him in the next class. And they were still waiting for the teacher to arrive.

Light looked at his hair. Black, and un-brushed. His face. Eyes rimmed dark from lack of sleep, and complexion pale from probably spending a little too much time inside. His clothes. A plain white long-sleeved t-shirt and baggy jeans. Light really didn't understand what the girls saw in him. They usually went for people like Light. And him and L were complete opposites in that way. Still, he wasn't unattractive or anything. Actually, he -

"Yagami-kun, why are you staring at me?"

"Sorry. I was spacing out again."

"Do you do that often?"

"Actually, I didn't think so."

The chatter in the room quietened down which signaled that the teacher had probably just walked in. Light turned to the front.

The teacher cleared her throat loudly, then said, "Class will be cancelled today. There has just been an incident at the school. It's advised that you should call your parents to pick you up, or teachers will escort you in groups to a bus."

There was a sudden outburst from the students.

"What?! What happened?!" Eito, a guy with a loud voice asked.

"I don't want to cause alarm, and there are no details yet," the teacher replied, "but the police are one their way now. Somebody has been attacked on school grounds."

Light's eyes widened and his gaze darted out the window. There were several teachers and a police officer down below, in the main area.

No sign of an attack, or people panicking. Although one of the teachers, the one talking to the police officer, looked distraught.

"Was it a student?" Light heard himself asking before he could stop himself.

"It's... not certain yet. Like I said, what's important now is that all students get safely home. Leave the questions for the police."

Light clenched his fist.

 _The police... Sometimes the police are useless._

He started walking out of the classroom - leaving his books and bag there. He pushed the door, and moved quickly down the hall. Although he was forced to a stop when a hand grabbed him.

"What are you doing?" L asked him. Light wasn't able to tell if it was curiosity or concern.

"It'll be at least another fifteen minutes until the rest of the police get here," Light answered, shaking him off. "Whatever happened, and whoever did the attack - they might not be able to find out by then."

"I'm coming with you."

"What? - _No_."

"Yes. It's safer if there's two of us, and I agree with you."

"But - " Light caught sight of the teacher emerging from the classroom door, looking after them, and Light grabbed L by the sleeve -

" _Fine_."

\- and ran.

* * *

'

'

'

'

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading another chapter :) As promised, L is now "L" again now! It was strange to write him as Lawliet. And this chapter's a little longer. I'm not sure how the story is going so far... I hope it's okay though. I guess you can choose not to read it anyway if it isn't so good :S Hope you're all well xx  
**

 **B.**


	3. CHAPTER THREE

**THREE**

L easily kept up with Light, although he was running fast. They had soon made their way out of the building and were on the school grounds - near where Light had seen the teachers talking to the police officer, and he got as close to them as he could. The voices carried, but only a little. It was only the police officer that they could hear more clearly.

"What time, exactly, did this happen?"

The teacher replied, her hands trembling furiously. "One-one f-fifteen."

"What did you hear?"

"A-a shout. Th-then I saw h-her -"

 _That's my geography teacher from last year..._

"B-but, she wasn't moving."

Another teacher came up and rested a hand against her back, face solemn and grey.

"It was just her in the courtyard when we got there. We didn't see who did it." The other teacher said, his voice authoritative and carrying over. "Kitani-sensei was the one who discovered it. That's why she's so distraught."

Light let out a breath he'd been holding.

"I know where they're talking about." He murmured quietly.

L followed him again as he ran.

Their footsteps seemed loud in the empty space. Everyone had already gone back to class and news was probably rippling of what had happened in theirs too. Then all of a sudden, an alarm, and students running out of the building they were heading towards. Teachers directing them.

L and Light both fought against the flow and pushed their way into the building. Several students hit them both and one almost pushed Light over. The corridors became more and more empty on their way. Voices disappeared when they reached the last hall before the courtyard, and they stood at the door that led out to it. Sunlight filtered through the top-halves that were glass. The part of it that was wood was old and un-lacquered. Light breathed in, finding himself unable to breathe out again. L shuffled beside him, and looked through.

There was a roll of police tape on the ground, but there hadn't been time to set it up yet. There were another two teachers bowing their heads, talking quietly with each other. And on the ground was...

"A girl..." L murmured.

There was no reply from Light so he turned.

"Yagami-kun...?"

"That's..."

He swallowed.

Blood. Everywhere.

Light covered his mouth with a hand and his eyes darted around the scene in disbelief.

 _An attack...? This is... Someone was...- !_

The two teachers shifted where they were standing and L pulled Light to the side so that they couldn't be seen.

"Maybe we should split up," L suggested. "They could have even hidden among the students that just came out. The only way in there is through this entrance." He muttered, gaze focused on the other side of the door. "That means they might still be in this building, or someone probably saw them leave."

Light crumbled against the wall, staring at him - through him.

Whoever had done the attack had been merciless. The death didn't look like it had been quick, which called to question - how much time exactly had the attacker had? And how could it have gone unnoticed?

Light nodded vaguely.

"You should... check the building. I know the outside better. I'll go outside."

"You're shaking."

Light's fist clenched and he bit down hard on his lip.

"I'm fine. Come on."

He turned, but there was a small tug on his sleeve.

"Look."

L had a finger pointed out. Light followed where he was pointing.

"A paper?"

"It's covered in - "

"Blood." Light finished.

He took a step forward, and hesitated, then picked it up and unfolded it.

He read what was on it, over and over again. Silent.

"...Do you think this is - " Light glanced at L. Then blinked in surprise. "L... you have blood on your shirt."

"Huh?"

L looked down.

"Your nose is bleeding!"

L could only feel the blood running as Light said it and he covered his nose, trying to stop it.

With bad timing, a different police officer than the one who was questioning the teacher before turned the corner and saw them.

 _His partner?_

" _Shit_." Light cursed, shoving the piece of paper into his pocket and opening his mouth to speak, but not knowing exactly what to say that would make this look innocent.

"Boys," the officer said, "What are you doing here?"

"We - heard there was an attack! We came to see what happened!"

The officer immediately noticed L's shirt covered in blood.

"He has a nose bleed! I know this looks bad. It's not - "

"Don't move!"

Light froze, and so did L.

"I'm placing you under arrest." He said, grabbing L and forcing him against the wall. "Where is the blood from?-!"

"It's just his nose!" Light protested, although obviously the officer wasn't listening to him.

He radioed that he had caught the person who had committed the attack, and L was handcuffed despite Light's protests. "Listen, neither of us were here! We just came to see what was going on!"

 _Damn it, he's not going to believe me!_

"My father's chief of the NPA! We were trying to help!" Light screamed. In light of everything, his emotions were getting the better of him.

"I don't care who you're father is." The officer replied. "We're going to the station."

* * *

Light sat with his hands together.

He could barely get the image out of his head. That... had all really happened, right? That wasn't some sort of nightmare he was about to wake up from... right?

Someone at his school... had been killed.

He flinched as a pile of papers slammed onto the desk of an officer around him. A call to his father had saved him from being where L was now. He'd just been sitting there after being questioned. Waiting.

 _"Were you and Lawliet-san together at the time of the incident?"_

 _Light hesitated, stiffening._

 _"Um... Actually we had different classes before."_

 _"What time did you arrive at the classroom?"_

 _"Class begins at 1:15... I think I was about five minutes early..."_

It was taking longer than he thought it would. A standard DNA test could be done in half an hour, but L had been in there for several.

He rested his head against the wall.

 _What's taking so long?_

He glanced to the side as he heard a noise. The opening of doors.

" _How do you know Lawliet-san?"_

" _Uh... He's a transfer student from the UK. We're in most of the same classes."_

" _I see."_

 _The officer shifted._

" _What kind of person would you describe him as?"_

 _The note that Light had passed back to Miho earlier that day came to his mind._

 _"To be honest, I haven't talked to him that much."_

 _"But you both decided to take off and try solve this by yourselves?"_

 _"Well, he... followed me. And we didn't realize at the time, that somebody had actually been..."_

 _"... I see."_

"You're free to go." The officer announced and handcuffs were released from L's wrist. His bloody T-shirt had been replaced with a plain green collared shirt. It was creased, although it still fit better than his other one.

"You're still here..." L mumbled in surprise.

"I didn't... think it would take that long." Light replied stiffly, straightening his back. "And they were questioning me for a while anyway."

The officers by L's side walked away and he was left, awkwardly standing there.

"That was... a really bad time to have a nosebleed. You know?"

"Yes..." L agreed quietly. "I would say it's probably one of the worst."

* * *

Light bit his lip.

"While I was waiting... I was able to overhear some things at the station..."

"So that was the real reason you were waiting?"

"...No." He glanced sharply at L. "You really say what's on your mind, don't you?"

"I don't usually bother."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing in particular."

A choked laugh escaped Light's lips. "Right..."

L was quiet, and placed his hands in his pockets.

Something about Light's look was completely different. He wasn't the polite student who had introduced himself that morning. Although there was nothing in particular that L could single out being different. Perhaps there was just something about Light now, that he just hadn't noticed before.

L sat in a crouch beside him, in the empty apartment. And wrapped his arms around his legs.

"This world..." Light murmured. "Is so rotten."

L buried his chin into his knees, not saying anything.

"Just this morning... It was a normal school day. And now..."

Light let it trail off, and they sat in silence. Until Light suddenly stood.

"It's not fair! Why should innocent people suffer?! That girl – that was someone's sister, someone's _daughter_ \- ! What the hell did she do to deserve that? Why is the world so... so..." His fists clenched, " _fucked_?"

"Justice sometimes fails."

Light's head whipped round.

"That's what it said on the note, didn't it?"

All the time at the station, Light had held onto it. He hadn't shown it to the police, even though it was evidence. They'd already been caught at the crime scene – tampering with evidence before the police had gotten there would have only made his and L's position worse. And besides that...

Light felt around in his pocket.

"Yeah..."

"You didn't give it to the police?"

"...No."

"Then... you should probably burn it."

Light swallowed.

"Yeah, I know."

The paper was taken from his hand, and L held it up out in front of him. Just like the test paper that morning, he held it carefully with his thumb and index finger. His eyes scanned it for a while before he turned it around, then back again.

"It's strange that it's written in English..."

"Isn't it..."

"Yagami-kun...?"

"Where were you before class, L?" Light mused. "A foreign student with a mysterious background shows up, then someone's murdered at our school, and the murderer leaves a note behind written in English..."

L almost dropped the paper in his hand.

"Huh?"

"That's what the police would have thought... That's why I didn't give it to them."

"So... You don't find it suspicious?"

"It's nothing but circumstantial. But it's enough for the police to draw conclusions. It won't have any benefit, they're questioning someone who's as likely as anyone else to be innocent. If anything, it's just going to slow down any investigation they do into it."

"I see. So it's nothing about trusting me then."

Light sat back down onto the couch and glanced up at him.

"To be honest... I thought you were weird. But it's not like you really fit the profile of a murderer."

"...Thank you."

"...Sorry."

L turned away from him and got up. Started making noise in the kitchen.

Reluctantly, Light stood up and walked over to him.

"...Why are all the cupboards empty?"

"My parents usually aren't home."

"They don't leave you with food?"

"No."

He watched as L finally found the cupboard, and took down a jar of coffee and sugar and placed the kettle on.

"They're not... my real parents."

"Huh?"

"My real parents... passed away when I was young. I was adopted, by distant relatives four years ago."

"...Sorry."

"Like I said, there's no reason you should be apologizing."

L put four spoonfuls of coffee into his cup and Light watched as he followed by adding seven of sugar.

Then L paused and added one more.

"Do you drink coffee, Yagami-kun?"

"Um... Yeah. Just black. And one spoon of coffee..."

He watched as L got another mug.

"So even if you did make a call from the school today..."

"They probably wouldn't have answered."

"Is that... also why you followed me?"

L hesitated.

"It was part of the reason."

Light was about to say something, but bit his lip.

"My father... is chief of the NPA. That was mostly why they let me out of questioning so quickly. I always wanted to follow in his footsteps. But I didn't really plan on working with anyone."

"...Is that your way of saying that you don't want my help?"

"Not exactly..." Light wondered aloud, "I just always thought that other people would get in the way."

"So then..." L assumed, "Yagami-kun is telling me that I'm in his way."

Light shook his head.

"No, you don't get it. I mean, I'm actually glad that you followed me. Nobody else... would have done that. We... didn't know what happened today. But you were determined, as much as I was to help somehow. L... that girl... she was Aiko's sister. Aiko was the one who asked for your email today. I knew her, that's why at the time, I was like that. I couldn't really do anything, I couldn't believe... that it was her. And I let it get the better of me. I noticed how calm you were. If anything... I was the one in the way. I didn't even notice the paper you pointed out. I wasn't thinking clearly. So... now it's my turn... to say thanks."

The kettle boiled.

L stared at him.

"Thanks...?"

"...Yeah."

"People usually just say that I'm emotionless."

"Uh," Light's eyes narrowed. "That wasn't what I meant. I was saying that despite everything, you were able to stay calm. That's not something that a lot of people can do without proper training. And even then..."

"Yagami-kun?"

"Mm?"

"There won't be school tomorrow, will there..."

"No..."

"Then... let's spend the day trying to solve what happened."

It was only then that Light noticed the stripped look in L's eyes. Not stripped of emotion like it could be easily mistaken for maybe by others, but stripped of any sort of spirit.

Light took the mug that was being offered out to him, and waited for it to cool. His gaze was fixed on L as he leaned with his back against the kitchen counter. Hands holding him up like his thin body needed the support.

"Hey... Are you okay?" Light asked, uncertain.

L chest suddenly started moving very fast.

"Hey - ? - !"

Light set the mug down and grabbed his shoulders.

"L - ! Hey, answer me!"

 _Delayed... trauma...?_

"Hey, you're having a panic attack!"

Without any support, L's body weight fell on top of him.

* * *

 _'¬'`¬'_

"Matsuda?"

"Yes?"

"We just got alerted by Shibuya station... There was an attack at Light's school..."

Matsuda immediately stood from his chair, face panicked.

"What? Light-kun's school? When did this happen?"

"Around 1pm. It was... similar to the other attacks that have happened. Except this time, it was a young female student. It didn't get picked up on right away."

"Only the one attack? How is it similar? Chief, where are you going?"

"Matsuda, come with me. We need to talk."

Matsuda scrambled some things he'd been working on into his drawer and threw on his jacket, following him.

"What I tell you now," Soichiro said, when they were alone together in the parking lot underneath the building. It was relatively dark, and a light flickered that needed replacing. "You can't repeat to anyone else, is that clear?"

Matsuda nodded after a second, reassuringly.

"Yes, chief."

"We suspect that the people who are committing the Tokyo killings are actually somehow connected to the police. The suspect we've otherwise been chasing has been a decoy."

"What - ?-!"

"Like I said," Soichiro repeated, "This is not to be repeated. But I need at least one partner I can work with who I can trust. If we don't catch them soon, this is only going to get much worse."

"How... How could it be worse?"

"They're two people working together too," Soichiro said, holding up a sheet of paper in front of Matsuda's face. "But one of them is starting to branch out and work on their own. This was sent to my email this morning."

Matsuda read it, then shook his head. "I don't understand. I thought there was only one of them... Why do you think that there's two?"

"I'll fill you in on the details in a place that's safer to talk. Right now, I also have to pick up Light. He was being questioned at Shibuya station."

"What? Light-kun was?!"

"It was a misunderstanding." Soichiro replied, clarifying. "I got in contact with him. He's at a classmates place now. I'll email you tonight so that we can organize a proper meeting. In the meantime, I'll need to ask you to start looking through classified profiles of police who have any sort of psychological history, from before or after they joined the police."

"But... I don't know the code to your account?"

"Does that mean that you'll do it?"

"Of-of course!"

* * *

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 **-Author's Notes-**

 **Chapter three! I am always unsure how each chapter turns out... And there was so much going on in this one, so please forgive my writing :S Well, this is maybe getting a little darker than I expected too, but basically the plot is the same. I hope it is okay, and that you're all doing well  
**

 **B.  
**


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